The article "a/an" with uncountable nouns


Sometimes I read in books sentences where uncountable nouns are used with the article "a/an". For example



She fades like a dew before the sun.



Is it out of the common rules?


Sorry if this question seems to be stupid. I'm just trying to figure out all the usages of the articles that I don't fully understand.



Answer



Certainly, ‘dew’ is normally uncountable, but the writer precedes it here with the indefinite article for literary effect. Other meteorological phenomena, such as fog and mist, can be treated in the same way. It's not at all a stupid question.


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